Pooka's Page for Grownups

Each year we try to make the issue a little bit special, taking care that it includes all the parts of the magazine you've told us are your favorites.

This year was a bit difficult - in fact it was "touch & go" whether we'd get this issue out at all.

My Lover of the past 8 years had a massive stroke on Nov. 4th, leaving him paralyzed, speechless and confused - and so, of course, I've had to be with him almost constantly. My presence & support right now is critical to his recovery.

And on top of the holidays being a busy time for everyone, two of our Team Members with regular columns had their own emergencies - Christine is busy helping her father care for her mother and Calunna's horse suffered a serious injury.

So, in addition to my own time-consuming crisis, we were also short-handed. However, I think the rest of the Team and I have pulled off a small Yuletide Miracle....and here is your Pooka Pages Issue!

To be honest, I don't know what the future holds for this little magazine. I don't know what the future holds for ME. The Gods have suddenly tossed Life's Cards into the air and who knows where they'll land - or how their positions, when they fall, will affect the Pooka Pages.

But, the new-born Sun of Yule is a symbolic promise for All of us . It's the beginning of a Growing Light in the middle of the of the Dark Winter. It's a Promise of Renewal, Growth and Sunny Days ahead.

May you be Blessed with your own Yuletide Miracles! Love, Lora & Pooka Yule 2015 A Birthday Party for the Sun ! Maybe you remember that at dinnertime during the summer it was still light out - but now when you eat it’s dark. It’s not that dinner’s being served later. It’s that, since Summer , the days have been getting shorter and the nights have been getting. But that’s about to change! At Yule, the sun is “born” once more. It's his birthday and everyone celebrates! Starting with Yule, the baby sun gets a little bit stronger and stays in the sky a little bit longer each day.

In this Issue:

Storybook Chair - Pooka's Gift Elsie's Kitchen - Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa Coloring Page - Happy Yule by Liliane Grenier Elsie's Herb Garden - Cranberries of Yule Plants by MommaWitch Carmen Jimmy Teaches an Important Lesson - by Evelien Roos Coloring Pages - Yule Ornaments by Carolina Gonzalez Yule Ritual by MommaWitch Carmen Little - a Family Solstice Spell A Letter from Scotland by Fiona Tinker Wee Witchling's Read-Along - Pooka's Mouse Hunt

The Pooka Pages Magazine is published 8 times a year by Lora Craig-Gaddis. To subscribe, go to: www.pookapages.com Elsie & Pooka characters are © Lora Craig-Gaddis This Issue of Pooka Pages is © Copyright December 2015 No portion of this publication may be used without the author/artist’s permission. To contact an author or artist or for general inquiries, write to [email protected]

Visit us on Facebook - facebook.com/PookaPagesTeam Pooka's Gift

The days preceding Yule were always so busy! Elsie rushed around the cottage stacking firewood, decorating the tree, wrapping gifts and jumping up to check on the gingerbread in the oven. Pooka watched, his little head swiveling back and forth like an announcer's at a tennis match. "Slow down, Elsie!" he told her. "Your boots are going to fly off." "I can't," the little witch said. "It's almost Yule and I still haven't made the pies!" It seemed the only time she sat down was when a friend stopped by to visit. Thankfully, that was fairly often. The friend would arrive bearing a cheery smile and brightly colored packages would be exchanged. Pooka was delighted that there would usually be a little gift for him too...and that it would be placed with Elsie's under the tree to be opened after dawn on the Solstice Morning. But, as the gifts mounted, a thought occurred to the cat and troubled him. Here were all these gifts...and he didn't have one for Elsie! He took his problem to Edgar the Crow. Edgar bobbed his head as he listened and then replied: "Easy! Just Find her a Sparkly Thing!" Pooka knew that, in a crow's world, if you see someone set something down, the object becomes fair game. The crow has then "found" it and is allowed to take it. He said, "In our world, that's called "stealing" and I can't do that! It's just WRONG!" Edgar looked at his friend in confusion. "You're on your own then," he told him and then spread his wings flew and off to "find" something. "What about a seed that she can plant next Spring? That would be a wonderful gift!" suggested Thistle. The little fairy had been hovering nearby, checking on a slightly frost- bitten rose bush, and had heard the whole conversation. Pooka shook his head. "Elsie's already saved all the seeds she wants for planting." Thistle raised her dainty nose and sniffed. "One can Never have too many seeds!" she said sternly, and then she too flew off. "What can I do?" fretted Pooka. "Elsie does so much for everyone...and especially ME! I want to give her Something!" Finally, the cat wandered down the snow-crusted path through the forest to their friend, Nathan's, house. "The Boy's not home, said Nathan's grandmother when she opened the door, "but come on in!" Grandmother poured him a little bowl of warmed cream and he told her his problem. The elderly woman sat down, listened and then said thoughtfully," You don't have money, so you can't buy her anything. You don't have thumbs so it would be hard for you to make her something. But, seems to me, the best gifts aren't the ones you buy or even make for someone. The best gift of all is your Love. Your time and just caring. I think that's all Elsie really wants." "But I do that all the time!" Pooka protested. "Well," said Grandmother, "at this time of year, it's nice to look for little extra things we can do to show our love and appreciation for others. I'm sure you'll think of something," she added confidently. Pooka thought and thought...but came up empty. Meanwhile, his little witch baked and cleaned, decorated their fireplace mantle and then trotted all over the village and out-lying farms, taking baskets of yummy home- made treats and herbal goodies to all their friends. She shopped for those who couldn't leave their homes and baby-sat so others could. On Yule Eve, after their supper and Yule Ritual, she trudged slowly up the stairs and collapsed face down on the comfy patchwork quilt covering the bed. "Blessed Be," she moaned. "I am so sore and exhausted right now. But, Pooka, be sure to wake me when the new sun comes up tomorrow. I don't want to miss it!" In response, Pooka climbed onto her back and began kneading with his little paws (being very careful not to poke her with his claws.) Elsie sighed happily. "A Kitty Massage. Oh my, that feels good!" Pooka kneaded harder. After a while, his paws grew tired, so he lay across her back and purred as hard as he knew how. Elsie stirred beneath him and mumbled, "This is the Best Yule Gift ever! I know I'll be a new witch in the morning thanks to you, Pooka. You always know just what to do!"...and then the little witch fell asleep smiling. Pooka parked on her back and just kept purring and vibrating. He'd found his Gift. Pooka thinks hot cocoa is fine just the way it is. So, when Elsie came home with a new recipe from the owner of the Village Cafe, the little cat was less than enthusiastic. He quickly changed his tune, however, once he'd tasted it. After cleaning the whipped cream off his whiskers, he graciously gave Elsie his permission to make their hot cocoa this way any time she wanted to!

Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa

6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup sugar

2 cups milk 1½ cups of half and half (half cream & half milk) ¼ cup caramel sauce (store bought or home made) 2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix the first 3 ingredients in a pot, then whisk in the rest of the ingredients. Heat over a medium flame while stirring. Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream drizzled with a bit more caramel sauce

Elsie's Home-made Caramel Sauce:

Mix 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup half-and-half, 4 Tablespoons butter and a good pinch of salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until it gets thicker. Add 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat, cool slightly and pour the sauce into a jar.

Cranberry

Pooka thinks the only things cranberries are good for is stringing with popcorn to make Yule tree garlands. But he's wrong! American Indians knew the healing properties of this little red berry. They'd grind it and use the paste to keep wounds from getting infected. When the first settlers arrived in this country, they quickly came to regard the cranberry as medicine also. They'd use it, both cooked and raw, for a number of things like tummy troubles, blood disorders and especially to treat scurvy, a disease people can get from not having enough vitamin C in their diet. It's juice can help all sorts of things from cancer to heart disease. In fact, too many too mention - and this is according to scientific research! It's good for all sorts of ailments. Lots of kids (and cats like Pooka) think they don't like cranberries because they're tart. But once you add sugar, they're really tasty! Once sweetened, they're yummy in salads and cereals and can even replace raisins in things like cookies and breads. Magically, cranberries are good when you need protective energy around you or help in fighting off negative influences like naughty kids who try and talk you into doing things you know you shouldn't. They're also useful in healing spells. Grind dried berries with a mortar and pestle. Then add to dried rosemary and thyme along with a little sage and some lavender oil. As you do, recite these words: I wish you health I wish you whole And with this wish You Will be Well.

Burn this incense on a charcoal tablet while concentrating on the person you want to get better. The Magic of Flowers, Plants or Trees of Yule by MommaWitch Carmen

Mistletoe The mistletoe has waxy, white berries and green oval leaves. It attaches itself to the oak, the ash and many other trees. The roots pull food from within the tree and that seems like magic to me. It lives in the shade of the leafy branches so it is usually hard to see. But there is magic in the mistletoe that is something like a wish. When two people stand under it they should give each other a kiss. If there are two people you want to see share a kiss then hang up a piece of mistletoe, And guide them to stand under it, tell them to kiss and like magic their cheeks will glow. But if you are the shy type, just remember as Yule comes along, here is something that you shouldn’t do. Be careful to not stand under the mistletoe or it will mean a holiday kiss for you.

Holly Tree The holly leaf has pointed green leaves and many bright berries too see, It is the perfect Yule colors and the twigs make enchanted ; what magic is within this tree. It is said that holly planted outside a home can protect it from the lightening of a storm. Dew drops glisten from the points of the leaves giving birds a nourishing drink come the morn’. The fairies know that when holly is in a home they can seek shelter from Yule’s cold winter days; And rest in the warm comfort of a magical home waiting for the warmth of the golden sun’s rays. Many times at Yule you will see holly leaves used for decorations with the leaves in groups of three; A reminder of the , ‘Ever Mind the Rule of Three, What Ye Send Out Comes Back To Thee!’ A perfect tree with many magical uses and the perfect Yule message to share; When knowing that what you give to others comes back to you, the perfect gifts are love and care. Jimmy Teaches an Important Lesson by Evelien Roos

Jimmy was playing by the remnants of the pumpkin patch, when he heard something. Curious as he was, he started scurrying towards the noise. “Ssstop right there Warmblood!” a voice hissed. Jimmy stopped, warily, and at the same time offended. “There is no need to get all hostile, you know. It’s not your grass, now, is it?” he replied huffily. He noticed movement from the corner of his eye and turned towards it. A big, grey snake slithered towards him. “I’m telling you to ssstop right there. Thisss iss my sspot.” Jimmy laughed. The snake was obviously young and didn’t know much. “Ok, so you are a snake. What kind, may I ask?” Although Jimmy knew very well what kind, he felt that this sassy little serpent needed a lesson. The snake raised its triangular head and proudly announced: “I am a viper, an adder to be precisssse!” Jimmy’s eyes sparkled with joy. This was so much fun! “Oh… and if I were to keep on walking? What would you do?” The snake huffed and hissed. “I would bite you! I AM poisssonousss, you know…” Jimmy fought to keep a straight face and said blandly: “Sorry, but I’m not impressed. I’ll just go on my merry way, if you don’t mind…” and he started off. The snake looked non-plussed and a bit less certain of itself. “I… I’m warning you! I WILL bite!” Jimmy ignored him. Panicked the snake writhed a bit. “I don’t want to, but I will!” Jimmy kept going. Then he felt the expected needle prick in his hind leg. “Ow! You didn’t have to bit down that hard!” The snake backed off. “Ssssorry, now you will die. I did warn you,” it said. Jimmy couldn’t hold it back anymore. He burst out laughing and kept laughing until he got the hiccups. The snake looked mightily offended. “What’sss sssso funny?? I’d think dying issss not a laughing matter.” Jimmy hiccupped once more and said: “I will most definitely not die. I am a hedgehog, and we are immune to the poison of your kind. What if someone acted like this if you were just slithering along your merry way? You wouldn’t like it, would you? Please, the next time you hear someone coming, be more polite, and ask them kindly if they are friendly. My human friend lives here too, and I would not want you to bite her. I don’t know if she can survive your bite too.” The snake meekly looked at Jimmy. “I’m ssssorry. I didn’t think…” Jimmy interrupted him. “That was obvious. You were a bit too convinced of yourself. I know you are dangerous to most creatures, but always stay kind. If you have power like that, it does not mean you should use it. Best to keep it for the times you really need it.” The snake nodded and whispered. “You are right. I will keep your wordssss in mind. Thank you…” and it quietly slithered off. Just to be on the safe side, Jimmy did warn Isobel there was an adder living in the pumpkin patch. You never know… Color the ornament, then cut it out and hang it with ribbon. Color the ornament, then cut it out and hang it with ribbon. Gifts From Within Yule Ritual

by MommaWitch Carmen

Yule is a time of merriment, family, love, decorating an evergreen tree, the sparkle of twinkling lights and the giving of gifts. Some of the most treasured gifts are gifts that come from within you that you may not even think would be a very special gift to someone else.

When thinking about those special gifts within you, I always think it is nice to do a three part ritual. The first part is you preparing your with help if you need it. The second part is shared with family or friends and the third part is your very own solitary ritual of concentration and then action. The solitary part you do by yourself as you think about the gifts that you already have within you that grow stronger when they are shared.

So get ready to celebrate the love you have by sharing the gifts that come from within you.

What you will need:  Crayons or Markers to color the items below  A white, gold, red or green cloth to use as your altar cloth.  Candy Cane (See Below)  A few Yule decorations of your choice for your altar; evergreens, candy canes, ornaments and/or whatever else you would like to use.  A ‘thinking’ pillow to rest your head. (I do a lot of my best thinking resting my head on a pillow).

FIRST PART – (3 Steps) Prepare your altar with help if you need it.

Step 1 Color and then cut out the symbols for the five Elements and the God and Goddess below. Cut out the Candy Cane Pentacle.

Step 2 Place your altar cloth or paper on a table. This will be your altar.

Step 3 Hold your Elementals, God and Goddess symbols and Candy Cane Pentacle in your hands.

SECOND PART - Share with family or friends – Elemental Welcome & Praises of the God and Goddess - all of you can say these together together.

Elemental Welcome - As you bid welcome to each element, place each one on your altar as shown in the picture below. Earth/North – Yule Evergreen – Say: “You are such a beautiful tree. Help me see the beauty of the gifts that are within me. So Mote It Be!”

Air/East – Sleigh – Say: “A Sleigh travels with the wind. Show me my special gifts that come from within. So Mote It Be!”

Fire/South – Yule Candle – Say: “Your candle light shines so bright. You bring me warmth as I celebrate on this shortest day and longest night. So Mote It Be!”

Water/West – Snowman – Say: “Snowman, your smile is as big as can be. May my gift bring a smile to someone else for all to see! So Mote It Be!”

Spirit/Center – The Gift of Joy- Say; “No greater gift can be shared by man, woman, girl or boy, then a simple gift given from the heart with a smile. It is the Gift of Joy! So Mote It Be!”

Candy Cane Pentacle – Take a few moments to have each person talk about an item on the pentacle and why it reminds them of Yule/winter Solstice.

Praise the Yule God and Goddess - Place the bow (for Goddess) on the altar. Place the Sun (for God) on the altar. Say; “Thank you Sun God for your light so bright that becomes stronger each day after this longest of nights. “Thank you Winter Goddess; with our heart we hear you say. “May you know the warmth of my love and wrap it all around you on this sacred Winter Solstice Day! So Mote It Be!”

Now place the decorations of your choice on your altar to fill in some empty spaces and add your own festive touches.

Hold hands with your family and share hugs of love.

THIRD PART - Your very own solitary ritual of concentration and then action

CONCENTRATION - Get your pillow and go to your room or a quiet place where you can be alone. Rest your head on your pillow and close your eyes. Concentrate on the wonderful gifts inside you; the things you really like to do.

 It might be singing or telling a story. I love listening to singing and story- telling. I’m sure you know someone who would love this too.  Maybe you love playing an instrument like the piano, drums or something else.  Some kids love to draw and paint and those types of gifts are always exciting to create and give.  Perhaps you love to be outside taking walks. Did you ever think of giving the gift of your time to walk with someone?  Maybe you are a cat or dog lover and you could offer to brush them or take them for a walk.  Is cooking or baking what you like to do? What a special gift that would be for some lucky person.  Dancing is also a wonderful gift to share and you might be able to get someone to dance with you.  Something as simple as giving wonderful hugs is a very loving gift.

ACTION - Once you know what special gift or gifts you have within you and who you would like to share them with its time for action.

 If you are giving someone a gift of your time to do something for them perhaps you could draw an hourglass and write down what you would like to do for them.  Another great idea is to make a Yule gift card telling the person what it is you would like to do for them.  If you love to paint or draw you might make a festive Yule picture to give them. These are all just ideas of how you can create your gifts. Now is your time of action to use your gift from within to give a wonderful gift. When you have completed your gifts remember to hide them in a secret place until Yule. Then take some time to enjoy your altar and think about how beautiful your altar is and how very beautiful you are on the inside and out!

Have a Merry Yule and enjoy all the smiles you will be bringing. A Family Solstice Spell

Take a large pillar candle. Use straight pins to stick gold colored crafting beads in criss- cross diamond patterns around the sides. Then, with Glitter Glue pens, fill in the centers of the pattern with various sun symbols.

On the morning of the Winter Solstice, have each member of your family take 3 large bay leaves and, on each leaf, write one word that represents a dream or wish they have for the coming year. (A felt pen or permanent marker works well for this).

Ring the base of the candle with the leaves and sprinkle them with cinnamon (a sun herb). Then light the candle, ring the bell and say:

The sun is born and so is here The brand new start of a brand new year We gather now as the Wheel turns Our dreams are born as this flame burns.

Let everyone take a turn ringing the bell and announcing their wishes. At the end, the whole family together says: So Mote it Be and Blessed Be. Hail to the Sun!

Allow the candle to burn that day for as long as someone can attend it. Light it again the next and the next so that it’s lit for a while every day until New Year’s Day. On that day, allow the candle to burn down the rest of the way, then bury the leaves and the remaining wax and bury them in the earth in a place where the sun will shine.

Some Sun Symbols: A Letter from Scotland

Dear Little Witches,

Have you ever had a horrible nightmare that just seemed to go on and on? Or been told a ghost story that got stuck in your head and frightened you? One little girl I know had this experience. She wanted to know why this happened, why ghost stories are so much more frightening in the winter time. She is a little girl who asks a lot of whys? To answer her, I had to remind her about the Sidhe, the fairies of Scotland. She remembered that there are two sets of Sidhe who rule at two different times in Scotland. The Seelie Court are the kind summer folk, whose time starts at . These are the ‘good neighbours’ of Scottish fairy stories, the kind fairies. The other set are the Unseelie Court, whose time starts at . Some of these are the nasty fairies in stories, the kind that can scare you and maybe make you think you’ve seen a ghost. But these are only nasty tricks played by nasty fairies. Real ghosts are nothing to be scared of, as this little Miss Why of my acquaintance found out. Let me tell you the story I told her.

***

Eilidh was a little girl who liked to read. My goodness - did she ever! By the time she was seven, she’d read all the books in her school’s library and she was half-way through the children’s section of the local library. She just adored stories! Last winter, just before the Solstice, Eilidh took out a book of ghost stories from the teenage section of the library. The book was a bit old for her because it told some gruesome, frightening ghost stories. Eilidh didn’t mind, she could read the book easily and she enjoyed sitting by the fire at home absorbing tales of horrible hauntings. Nothing to be frightened of here - or so she thought. But that night, the night before the Solstice sun was reborn, Eilidh had nightmares. All the stories marched across her dreams, all the horrible hauntings played out like a film in her head. She saw every ghost from the storybook running towards her. Eilidh was terrified – and she woke up yelling in fright. artist unkown

Her heart was dancing in her chest, banging about in time to the fast speed of her panting breath. Eilidh sat up in bed – and her heart did another jump and a spin. For on the end of her bed sat two little girls, round about the same age as her. Eilidh squeezed her eyes tight shut. Opened them again. The two little girls were still there, smiling at her. “I’m still dreaming,” she announced to her bedroom. “Maybe you are,” said one of the girls, “and maybe you’re not.” Eilidh stared. “If you’re not my dream,” she asked, “who are you?” “The ghosts of your great-Grandmothers,” said another girl. Eilidh dived under her blankets – this was a weird dream. How could these little girls be her grandmothers? What silly things dreams were! At least these two wee ghosts were not frightening, not in the least. Not like the ghosts in her library book. She counted slowly to one hundred. She poked her head out from beneath the covers. And the two little girls still sat patiently on the end of her bed, smiling at her. “We thought we’d visit you to show you what real ghosts are,” said the first girl. “And to help you learn not to be frightened by the Unseelie Court,” said the second. “Those Sidhe are nasty and send you frightening dreams if you open your imagination to them without knowing what they are.” Eilidh didn’t feel so frightened now. It was hard to feel scared when two ghosts the same age as you were sitting on the end of your bed all friendly and smiling. “Are you real?” she asked them. “Real in our time and place,” said the first ghost girl. “Yes,” said the second ghost girl, “we’re real ghosts. But we were real girls once too – and we grew up to become your ancestors.” Eilidh was really confused. “But… but you are the same age as me,” she spluttered. “Once we were, that’s true,” said the first ghost. “But the nice thing about being a ghost is you get to choose how you show yourself to living people; if you want to do that, of course.” “So why can I see you now? Why haven’t I seen you before?” Eilidh asked. “We’d no reason to show ourselves to you,” said the second ghost. “But you’ve been frightened by what you’ve read and we don’t like that. The children in our family have always grown up to understand the Unseelie and Seelie Courts, to know what is real and what is glamour.” “Glamour?” “A way of pretending,” answered the first ghost. “It’s making other people believe what they see is real. It never is real though. Sometimes it is harmless, most times it is done by magical trickery by those who think such things will give them power over others.” “It sounds horrible,” Eilidh said. “It is,” said one. “It is deceitful and untrue. It is how bad things grow in the world. They start as ideas, then they grow more real as more and more people share the same bad dreams.” Eilidh thought about this. “So, because my imagination was frightened by the ghost stories I read, I let the Unseelie Court Sidhe have control of my dreams – and they turned them in to nightmares?” “Something like that,” replied the first ghost. “Dreams are powerful things, you know.” “How can I stop them doing that?” The second little ghost smiled at her. “Easily,” she said. “Let me show you.” With this, she clapped her hands and a shimmering mirror appeared, floating in the air. Eilidh saw some of the creatures of her nightmare. Instinctively, she hunched up, ready to dive back under her bed clothes. “No, don’t do that,” said one of the grandmother ghosts, “look at them; face them.”

Eilidh didn’t really want to look – she wanted to run away. But if what the ghost girls said was true, there really was nothing to be frightened of, nothing at all. So Eilidh looked. And looked again. The horrible hauntings of her nightmare were there in all the detail she’d dreamt them. Eilidh wanted to look away, but she made herself stare at what was in front of her instead. The nightmare ghosts were still there. But there were things behind them, things hiding in the background, shapes that were almost people. And these people- shapes held strings, which they pulled. The strings made all the horrible ghosts and nightmare creatures jolt and judder, dance and dive, move and meander backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. Eilidh stared hard. The horrible things from her dream were really not going anywhere at all, not without those hidden things pulling them around in the landscape of the mirror. She burst out laughing. “They’re just puppets!” she exclaimed. “And the puppet-masters are rubbish!” The sound of Eilidh’s laughter made a golden cloud in the air. The cloud drifted towards the mirror and flowed into it. The golden light lit up the dream scene and Eilidh could now clearly see the Unseelie Sidhe. They had faces like shrivelled up bad- tempered walnuts that had never shown a smile and their sour natures made their eyes glitter like frozen raisins. The more she looked, the more she learned. Eilidh saw the Unseelie Court were the stuff of the depths of winter. They were all the cold, all the hunger and all the hardships people endured in the dark months. She saw that their rule was necessary but would not last forever. The golden light in the mirror showed her something else… the promise of the return of the sun. “This is their time but it won’t last long,” said the first ghost. “We need them in the world to make the balance. Without the dark, there is no light.” And Eilidh understood. “Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice,” she said. “The sun will start to grow stronger and the light will come back. In a few months, the Seelie Court will return and banish the harshness of winter.” The ghost girls smiled at her. “That’s right,” they said. “Now go back to sleep and never be afraid to face your nightmares again. It’s all just a trick. Look for the glamour and see the strings being pulled.” Eilidh snuggled down. “I will,” she said, sleepily. “But tell me more about you. How can you be my great-Grandmothers? “Ah,” said the second ghost girl, “that’s a tale for another time.” But she needn’t have bothered answering. Eilidh was fast asleep.

***

My little Miss Why was happy with this story and promised not to let nightmares ever scare her again. Hopefully, it will help you not to be scared of the dreams of winter too. I’m waiting for her next question – why can’t I see my great-Grandmother ghosts? Maybe I will tell her another story when she asks that question. In the meantime, enjoy the festivities and light a candle to welcome the birth of the new sun.

May the Peace of the Solstice be yours. Till next time, Fiona Tinker Pooka’s Mouse Hunt

After greeting the new sun on Yule morning, Elsie and

Pooka ran back to the cottage. It was time to open presents! There were lots of wonderful gifts

under the tree this year. Elsie got a book on herbs from Aunt Tilly. For Pooka, she’d crocheted a new hat to warm him in the winter. Their friend, Nathan, had made a beautiful sun catcher for them to hang in the

window and Nathan’s grandmother had sent over a basket of gingerbread cookies. Finally, it looked like all the presents were opened, but Pooka was still digging under the tree. “What are you looking for?” smiled

Elsie. “My catnip mouse!” cried Pooka.

“Every year you give me a new catnip mouse. I can even

smell it. But it’s not here!” Elsie laughed. “Every year you know you’re getting one, so it’s not a surprise. I thought I’d make it more fun this year by hiding it.” “Where?” asked

Pooka. “You’ll have to find it,” said Elsie grinning. Pooka thought that did sound fun! On his hind legs, he peered down into Elsie’s big cauldron. No

catnip mouse there. He searched among the

books on the bookshelf. It wasn’t there either! It also wasn’t under the chair or behind the broom.

“I need a hint!” sighed Pooka. “Think green,”

Elsie told him. Pooka looked around the parlor.

There were lots of green things in there, but he’d searched them all. All except for the tree itself! He went over to it and looked carefully. There! Up toward the very top of the

tree was a brand new catnip mouse staring down at him with shiny button eyes! Pooka scrambled up the

tree and grabbed it. When he got back down, Elsie was laughing and clapping. “You found it!” she said. Pooka batted his catnip mouse across the floor and grinned at her. “Let’s do that again next year!” he said.

The End Elsie's Village Market